Thoughts From Bob

Doc took the family, Janice, Robbie, Leslie, and David back to Europe to retrace the journey he had in 1944-45. Doc had a very vivid memory of the war and we would come to a hill and he would say, “we lost over 50 men trying to take a machine gun nest at the top of that hill.” It was a very emotional time for Doc and today we would definitely say that Doc had PTSD. You see Doc had lied about his age and enlisted when he was 17. I tried for many years to get Doc to write down his experiences during WW-II but he was not anxious to do so. “You see David I have spent the last 60 years trying to forget what happened and I really don’t want to think about it,” Doc would always say. Finally I was able to get him set up with a computer and he wrote the following passages. It is an incomplete story and I hope to be able to expand on it more when I complete our current missions at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

So, here’s a link to the six chapters that Doc wrote about his time during WWII.

Tomorrow is Veteran’s day and we will be flying Doc’s flag in honor of all those who gave so much for this country.

Tags: General, Life, Memorial, The Soldier by David
No Comments »

Dear Bill,

Thanks so much for your call today.  After speaking to you I got out three more flags and a red, white, and blue bunting.  Memorial Day has always been a very special day in the Scott Family.  At the Aichelman farm (Doc’s uncle Frank Aichelman ran that farm before giving it to Doc after the War) we used to get out Doc’s father’s 1923 Model T Ford pickup and put a horse trough in the back.  The trough would be filled with ice, sodas, and beers.  Then we would chug down to the pasture and set up the baseball diamond for the annual baseball game.  It was quite an event and all the farmers from the Platte River Valley would come to participate and set up the tables and grills.  I’ll never forget the sounds of the Model T.  It would go chuga, chuga, chuga, and had the wonderful AooUga horn.  We had so much fun with that vehicle.  It was amazing where that thing would go.

Here are some audio clips for the Model T

Sound of the car running.

The horn.

There is a new book out which includes photos from the Aichelman farm. Here’s a link to Amazon.

Attached is a photo of the time you surprised Doc at the Mission Inn.  That was so much fun.  “Bill Schmidt, what the Sam Hill are you doing here.”  We really got Doc good that time.  Unfortunately the digital image is blurry but I remember it vividly.  It was what Doc always called “A Golden Moment”.  Thanks again so much for all the help you gave Leslie and I with Doc’s transition to the Mission.  That was a challenging time.

Semper Fi,

David

Tags: Memorial, The Soldier by William
No Comments »

Today the link to Doc’s WW-II Memorial was published in the Universe, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s public record of significant events.  The archive of the Universe publications goes back to when JPL was first formed as an Army Lab researching rockets back in the 1940’s.  Doc’s signature will also be written into a silicon chip using the electron beam lithography system.  This chip will be attached to the Mars Exploration Rover scheduled to launch in 2011.

The link to his memorial  is included here so you can view the official version.

http://www.wwiimemorial.com/registry/search/pframe.asp?HonoreeID=1892706&popcount=2&tcount=3

Tags: Memorial, The Soldier by William
1 Comment »

Here are some photos of the Scott Memorial in Brighton and some more information on Doc as recalled by his brother Bud Scott.  We will soon have a DVD of the memorial service for Doc.

Tags: Memorial by William
No Comments »